M31N 2008-12a
Recurrent nova
The fastest-recurring nova known
The fastest-recurring nova known. A white dwarf close to the maximum mass a star can hold pulls gas from a companion and flares almost every single year, a relentless cycle that makes it a prime candidate to one day explode as a Type Ia supernova.
Illustration from its stellar type, not a photograph
1.4 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
2.5 million ly
from Earth
18.0
apparent magnitude
Its light has been travelling 2.5 million years to reach us, so you see M31N 2008-12a as it was 2.5 million years ago.
Source · Darnley et al. 2016, ApJ 833, 149
It lives in
Andromeda Galaxy
Spiral galaxy, 2.5 million ly away.
Other notable stars in Andromeda
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→